Main navigation

How To Block Phone Numbers On Android: 5 Painless Methods

Calling and text messaging on Android smartphones is fairly easy. While calling regularly is a necessity for many people, getting spam calls might not be a user’s favorite thing. People get irrelevant calls all the time such as calls from sales and marketing organizations. Whether you don’t like telemarketers calling you or you don’t want to talk to a person that you know, this article will show you how you can block calls on your Android smartphone.

Method 1 – Blocking apps using in-built settings

This method focuses on blocking calls using the in-built settings on your Android smartphones. You don’t need to install any third party apps and can easily block calls directly through the preloaded settings. This method is available for the Galaxy S4, the LG G2, the Nexus 5 and the HTC One.

Samsung Galaxy S4

Step 1

Go to the settings menu on your Galaxy S4.

Step 2

Click on the My Device tab on the top.

Step 3

Next, click on the Call button.

Step 4

Now, go to Call Rejection and click on Auto Reject Mode.

Step 5

Now, go to the Auto Reject Mode option and you should get a popup like the one in the image below. Now, click on Auto Reject Numbers if you want to block some custom numbers or click on All Numbers if you want to reject calls from any number.

Step 6

Click on the Auto Reject List if you chose Auto Reject Numbers earlier. You can now enter the numbers you want to block. Simply, use the keypad to type the numbers or select a contact that you want to block by clicking on the contacts icon. You can also use the Match Criteria option if you want to block calls from numbers starting with certain defined digits, for example 123.

Step 7

Once you are done entering numbers that you want to block, simply click on Save on the top right corner. Now, you won’t get any calls from the numbers that you entered in the list.

LG G2

Step 1

Open settings from your LG G2.

Step 2

Go to Call while in settings. Then, tap on Call Reject.

Step 3

Now, you need to click on Call Reject Mode.

Step 4

After that, make sure that you click on the Reject Calls On List option. This will enable call blocking on the numbers in the call rejecting list.

Step 5

Now, to make the rejection list, you need to click on “rejection list” and click on the add icon.

Step 6

You can now simply enter any number that you wish to block. Also, you can use the latest numbers for the call log and your contacts. Your phone should now reject all the numbers in the rejection list.

HTC One

Step 1

Go to the people/contacts app on your HTC One through the app drawer.

Step 2

Now, you need to click on “Menu.”

Step 3

After that, tap on Manage Contacts.

Step 4

Now, click on Blocked Contacts. This will bring you to the list of blocked contacts in your device.

Step 5

Now, you can add any contact number by clicking on the Add icon. You can also add a custom number using the keypad. Once you have added the numbers in the list, your device should block all calls from those numbers.

Nexus 5

Step 1

Go to your app drawer and open the people app on your Nexus 5.

Step 2

Tap on the contact that you want to block. This should bring up the details of the contact.

Step 3

Now, you need to click on menu and then tap on the All Calls to Voicemail option.

Step 4

After step 3, you can check if the All Calls to Voicemail” option has been selected. You should see a tick next to the All Calls To Voicemail option. This should now block all calls from the particular caller that you select. This sends all calls from the selected caller directly to voicemail. If you do not use the voicemail service, then the phone will automatically reject the calls from the selected caller.

Method 2 – Google Voice

This method also allows you to block calls without installing any third party call-blocking apps. Using this particular method, you can either block the call, send it directly to voicemail or treat it as spam. The method should work on most Android devices. You should have a valid Google Voice supported ID.

Step 1

Make sure that you are signed in to your Google account on your Android device.

Step 2

Next, go to Google Voice and select the contact you want to block. If you don’t have it in your contacts, then you can create a new contact by clicking on the New Contact option.

Step 3

Once you have selected the contact that you want to block, simply click on the Edit Google Voice Settings option.

Step 4

Now you need to go the When This Contact Calls You option.

Step 5

After that, you need to click on the drop-down box and select either Treat As Spam or Block Caller or Send to Voicemail. If you have selected Block Caller, this will simply reject the calls directly without your phone ringing. If you chose Send To Voicemail, then your phone should automatically send all the calls from the selected contact directly to voicemail without ringing your phone. The last Treat As Spam option doesn’t reject the call but treats it as spam. Basically, the person calling you will hear the bell, but your device will not ring. Then, the call will be marked as spam in your device. This is a great option for people who don’t want others to know that they have blocked them as the bell keeps ringing on the caller end.

Method 3 – Mr Number

Mr Number has received a lot of praise from sources such as The New York Times and PCMag due to its effectiveness in blocking calls. You can decide the type of blocking method and whether you want to keep or remove blocked spam messages. The app also includes a reverse lookup feature which you can use in order to find more information about the blocked number. Mr Number also comes with a suspected spam option which includes previously blocked numbers from other users and you can add this in your blacklist.

Step 1

First, you need to download and install the Mr Number app for your Android device. You can download it through the Google Play Store button below.

Step 2

Next, you need to open the Mr Number app and enter your mobile number on the start screen.

Step 3

You can edit whether you want to block calls, texts or both from a number by clicking on the settings icon.

Step 4

In order to block a number from your recent call and message log, you can simply click on the number/contact and tap on the menu icon. This will give you the block option.

Step 5

Now, you can select either Hang Up or Voicemail. If you select Hang Up, then the calls from that particular number will automatically be rejected. If you choose Voicemail, then the call will directly be sent to voicemail in your phone. After choosing, simply click on the Done button.

Step 6

If you want to select a particular number or contact to block, simply click on the block icon from the main screen of the app.

Step 7

Now, either select the Hang Up tab, the Voicemail tab or the Exception tab.

Step 8

If you chose the Hang Up tab, click on Hang Up On Someone. Now, you can enter a number, choose a contact to block, block all numbers in your contact, block all the numbers not in your contact list or select a number starting with some specific digits. If you chose the Voicemail tab, simply click on Send Someone to Voicemail and you’ll be able to block numbers using the all the above methods. Lastly, if you have selected to block all the contacts or all the numbers starting from specific digits, you can make an exception to a particular number by going to the Exceptions tab and clicking on Make An Exception.”

Method 4 – Call Control – Call Blocker

Call Control – Call Blocker is another call blocking app for the Android OS and is extremely easy to use. With over 5 million downloads, the app has almost all the features that a user can ask for in a call blocking app. It supports black lists and white lists, blocking area codes and blocking text messages. The app is also preloaded with a community black list which includes thousands of numbers previously reported.

Step 1

You need to download and install the Call Control – Call Blocker app on your Android device. You get the app through the Google Play Store button below.

Step 2

Now, you need to open the app from your app drawer. You can change the settings including starting the app on reboot and blocking all unknown and private numbers by clicking on the settings icon. You can also select the blocking method such as hangup the call, send it to voicemail or mute the ringer.

Step 3

Once you have configured the settings, you need to click on the black list icon in order to add numbers to the block list.

Step 4

Now, click on the plus/add sign to add numbers in the list.

Step 5

You can now add a specific phone number, a contact, an area code or numbers from your recent call log to add to the black list.

Step 6

Once you add the number or contact, you simply need to click on the Save and the number will be added in the black list. Now all the calls from that number should be blocked.

Method 5 – Call Blocker by Embware

Call Blocker by Embware is another brilliant third party call blocking app for the Android OS. The app is extremely light at less than 600 kb, and it is also battery efficient. It supports black lists for call blacking and white lists for making exceptions in blocking calls. Call Blocker also supports blocking MMS and SMS messages.

Step 1

First, you need to download and install the Call Blocker app from Embware. You can get it through the Google Play Store button below.

Step 2

Open the app from your app launcher and click on Settings to change the settings of the app. You can select the preferred call blocking method such as hangup, airplane mode, silent mode or answer hangup. You can also block all the numbers except for the number in your contacts, or you can block calls with a few exceptions, which you can select in the white list.

Step 3

Next, you need to click on Blacklist in order to add numbers that you want to block.

Step 4

Now, click on Add Contacts. You can create a new contact, choose an existing contact or use the recent log from your messages and calls to select a number.

Step 5

Once you have selected the number, simply click on Save. This should add the number in the blacklist and all calls will be blocked from the number through the blocking method that you selected earlier.

Conclusion

Most, if not all, Android users do face the problem of spam calls or calls from contacts that they don’t want to answer. Whatever the case, you can easily block a number or a list of numbers using any of the methods above. Using your smartphone’s in-built settings to block calls or using the Google Voice method are great ways of blocking calls if you don’t want to install third party apps. However, for those who want to take advantage of the extra features included in these third party apps, you can use them instead of relying on your smartphone’s in-built settings.

I know this post is 2 years old, but I’ve been looking everywhere to no avail. Is there a way to block an amount of numbers, specifically less than ten? I’ve been getting 4 digit number calls. I’m aware that they’re coming through spoofing software, but I’d like to be able to block them based on the amount of numbers used, not even by what the numbers are. Is there a way to do this?

Is there any blocking app that has an “answer hangup” mode that can also play a custom message for the caller? I have recorded a message that I want blocked callers to hear, but have not been able to find an app that can do it.